Australian shares follow Wall Street down: Afternoon market insights

The local market followed Wall Street lower today.

At 2.30pm the ASX200 fell 0.6% to 4093.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index also lost 0.6% to 4135.0.

The Australian dollar fell lower, buying $US1.01685.

CMC Markets trader Ben Taylor said unease about China’s economy causing markets in the region to fall.

“We have seen a reversal of fortune in today’s market as weak Chinese June Import growth failed to meet expectations signalling a dramatic turnaround for our mining heavyweights,” he said 

“China’s imports rose just 6.3% in the month of June, half of the 12.7% increase expected. The result had the market sell risk assets in dramatic fashion. The unexpected result comes on the back of yesterday’s CPI figure which was much lower than expected. Yesterday’s CPI and today’s trade balance data suggests China’s move towards a consumer driven economy is not working. Friday will bring the release of China’s GDP, expectations are now being made that the number will be in the low sevens.”